Such Interchange of State
by Sixty-four K
Summary: He never belonged in Imladris. He was far too ancient for them to comprehend. And now finally, at long last, he was home, among the people of his own Age. And yet, somehow, the feeling of belonging once again rings hollow. Oneshot. Part of the "Shards of Imladris" series.


It was lovely in Gondolin.

The streets sang. All around, there was peace, love and light.

It couldn't be, Glorfindel thought. It was impossible. Gondolin had fallen. And yet here it was; as filled with joy as it ever had been. And the Lord of the Fountain stood tall before him, just across the tiled courtyard.

That was all that mattered, really. Glorfindel had loved the city, but as beautiful as it was, he had loved it for its inhabitants, and above all others, he had loved Ecthelion.

The warden of the gate stared into the Fountain of the King, eyes filled with thought. Glorfindel tried to speak, tried to tell him how glad he was to see him, but could not find the words. 'Glad'. That wasn't the right word for this feeling, but no word more apt could come to mind. And still Ecthelion paid him no mind, staring deeply into the fountain.

Then he turned. He saw Glorfindel, and he smiled. "Welcome back."

Tears came to Glorfindel's eyes, and he wiped at them furiously. Then, he ran to Ecthelion, legs threatening to give way with every step. When he reached him, there was a moment's hesitation, and then they were locked in an embrace. "I... I thought you were dead," muttered Glorfindel. Ecthelion's dark hair blew into his face. Long ago, he would have been annoyed by such a thing, but now, it was the most welcome feeling in the world. "I thought you were all dead." he added.

Ecthelion laughed- such a musical laugh. "Evidently not," he said. "And how have you been doing?"

"I've been fine," said Glorfindel. "But I missed you. I missed Gondolin." Then, he saw Ecthelion's bandaged left arm. "Does that hurt?"

"Not anymore." They were silent for a moment more. Finally, Glorfindel broke the silence.

"Did we win?" he asked.

Ecthelion shook his head. "No. It's not so simple as that."

But Glorfindel didn't want to know. "It's fine. All I need to know is that things are back to the way they were."

"No," said Ecthelion. "They aren't. I suppose that you don't understand."

And then the world began to waver in Glorfindel's sight. He broke away from Ecthelion."What?"

Ecthelion turned away from Glorfindel, staring back into the fountain. "You're dreaming, I think. But you have to wake up. You can't stay here forever."

Glorfindel stared. "No. No, I'm not. This is real." But he began to feel sick inside.

"You know that Gondolin was destroyed," said Ecthelion. "You know that I died."

Glorfindel panicked. "I...I thought that you did. But you proved me wrong! You're alive, and you're standing before me now..."

"Glorfindel," said Ecthelion, ever-so-gently, "I'm not. I'm dead."

"Then why do I see you now?"

"Because you're dying, too."

And then the world stopped.

Ecthelion's words entered Glorfindel's ears strangely, as though he were speaking to him from across the courtyard, though he stood before him. "You're trying to come to me, now. Back to everyone that you lost. That's why you're dreaming this. But you can't be with us yet. You were brought back to life for a reason, even if you don't know what it is yet."

"But... I want to stay here," whispered Glorfindel. "I... I'm so lonely in Imladris. I don't belong there... I'm as old as a fairytale there...I love you, Ecthelion."

"But they love you too, Glorfindel," said Ecthelion. "As I said before, you were sent back for a reason. Even if you don't understand it yet, you shouldn't try to run away from finding out."

"But..."was all Glorfindel could say. This time, he didn't try to hide his tears.

Ecthelion looked into his eyes, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's alright. But you have to go. Someone's calling you. Someone who loves you as truly as I do."

Then Ecthelion vanished.

Glorfindel tried to scream, but he couldn't manage it... his chest had begun to ache too badly to even attempt it. The buildings around him disappeared one by one, then the streets, then the sky...

The ache transformed into a throbbing burn, one that made him gasp and want to sob...

And the world faded into white.

* * *

"Thel... Thel..."

"Be quiet. Don't say anything."

Glorfindel squeezed his eyes shut, as tightly as possible, but to no avail. It was useless. He couldn't enter back into that lost world, that long-ago time which time's terrible hand had robbed him of.

His chest burned with hot, sticky heat all across it. He could barely breathe; something rattled inside him whenever he tried. A familiar salty taste filled his mouth, and the liquid fell in a thin stream from its corner. And the world was cold; so cold.

At first, he wasn't sure of his body position; he could have been upside down for all that his confused mind could sense. Soon, however, he could tell that he was semi-upright; his back resting against a chest that rose and fell with frantic breaths. His head lolled back upon someone's shoulder, keeping his airway open... but he couldn't- no, wouldn't- open his eyes to find out whose. It had to be Ecthelion. Ecthelion wouldn't leave him alone.

Someone's voice broke into his troubled thoughts. "Don't move. Keep breathing, alright?"

It wasn't Ecthelion. He knew that now.

He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. It hurt too much, in more ways than one.

"Someone will be coming soon for us," the someone said, in a voice filled with thinly-disguised panic. "Alright? You're fine."

"I want to go back," Glorfindel managed to say, in a choked whisper of a voice.

"Nonsense," said the voice. Its owner took hold of Glorfindel's hand. "You're with us now, and that's where you're going to stay. No more of this silliness. It's not funny. Your jokes were never very funny..." and from there, the person's voice developed into a muttered rambling of irrelevant nonsense.

Glorfindel wanted to go back. Why didn't this person understand that?

"Let me go. You have to let me..."

"No. Stop it. Just stop." And Glorfindel felt a drop of something wet his hair. "You have to stay... you were sent to us for a reason. Can't you understand that? You just can't leave without finishing your appointed task. It's not like you to leave a job unfinished."

A hesitation. Then, "We all love you. I wouldn't have wasted my breath calling you back if I didn't."

He couldn't help but struggle. And yet... was this true?

Ecthelion had said so.

It must be true.

"Erestor..." he said. Then fell silent.

Was he meant to stay?

"Yes," said Erestor. Glorfindel didn't know if Erestor's answer was in response to Glorfindel's calling his name, or to his unspoken thought. But it was enough to convince him, for now. Enough to convince him to try again. Just for a little while longer. One more shot at this life. Then, after he'd tried, he would see if the Valar would have mercy on him, and let him return to where he belonged.

Or perhaps, sending him _here_ was their act of mercy.

He hoped that he would be able to comprehend it someday.

* * *

 _A/N- This is the darkest thing that I have ever written. O_O It was partially inspired by NirCele's Twelfth Edition of the 100-Drabble Challenge and also her other story Two Best Friends?(I highly recommend both!) This story was also partially inspired by Kasmi Kassim's story The Dance of Shadow and Flame, which I just read a few days ago for the first time. It was a VERY dark story, but beautifully written. There is some disturbing imagery in two of the chapters, but if you're fine with that(it can probably be skipped past without missing too much of the plot), and aren't bothered by close male friendship, then I recommend that as well. The title I stole from Shakespeare's Sixty-fourth sonnet, which deals with the passing of time and the loss that results from it. Also, the cover picture isn't mine, and I'm not sure how to contact the artist, but I'm very grateful to her for drawing this beautiful picture.  
_

 _I borrowed the idea from Kasmi Kassim's story that perhaps Glorfindel isn't always happy with being brought back to life. He doesn't yet understand why he's here, and misses all his old friends. I'm sure that he's a bit of a "Man out of time" too, and feels out of place. I didn't mean to give the impression that he wants to die or anything- he doesn't really. He just wants to be back with Ecthelion and his other friends, and, at this point in his life, doesn't yet understand how the people of Imladris care for him._

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this- it's my first time really trying out this new, more emotional style. I hope I didn't scare any of my more regular reviewers away with this very-not-humorous story(and my gratuitous Glorfindel abuse...forgive me; it was for the sake of the story.) ... please review and let me know what you think! :)_


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